


A Flicker of Hope

by dear_chaton



Series: ML Fluff Month [7]
Category: Miraculous Ladybug
Genre: A little bit of angst, Day 7 prompt, F/M, Hurt/Comfort, Miraculous Fluff Month, Platonic Relationships, Recovery, but not a whole lot, but take this, can be read as romantic but very little, just some friends comforting friends, soft, this was supposed to be way more lighthearted, whoops i ended up projecting onto marinette again
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-08-07
Updated: 2018-08-07
Packaged: 2019-06-23 02:08:56
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,389
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/15595896
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/dear_chaton/pseuds/dear_chaton
Summary: Or the one where Marinette has a random bad day and her friends are there to pick her right back up





	A Flicker of Hope

**Author's Note:**

> This was initially going to be a different story, one a litle more lighthearted, but i promise i didn't intentionally try to make it angsty its just a soft fic about friends comforting friends.
> 
> And as for inspiration for this, I myself have been a weird last few days and really felt the need to write about it, so apologies for any and all mistakes.
> 
> Enjoy.

There was no real reason why Marinette was feeling this way, at least that’s what her mind was telling her.

 

It had started as a typical day, fight akumas, go to school, chat with friends, not necessarily in that order. Marinette was riding on a high note, having just posted a new outfit on her blog, showcasing new patterns and although she had rushed to finish it under a deadline, it came out well.

 

The reviews had been just as encouraging, if not more favorable than she had hoped. Plenty of people loved the new outfit, wanted it for themselves as Marinette had chuckled and replied to as many people as she could. For now, the clothes were only for Marinette’s reference, a rough idea of what she had created in the past. A digital portfolio if you will, and my god she was so proud of herself.

 

And that’s when it went to shit.

 

There was just one comment, one that set her off in the worse way possible. She knew that she could take constructive criticism, it was the only way to improve after all. But, after a reading an excellent start comment, to slowly see the words, ‘honey this is amateur at best, I'm saying this because I love you,’ Marinette felt her heart drop.

 

All of the excitement and pride she had felt the moment prior was gone, vanished, no longer relevant at this moment. Marinette herself slumped and slowly close out of the tab where the outfit was showcased. It was as if it lost its appeal to her, and she rose from her chair and shuffled to bed, falling asleep almost instantly.

 

Marinette didn’t dream that night, or at least she wasn’t sure if she did or forgot it as she woke up just minutes before her school alarmed blared. Owlishly blinking her eyes open, Marinette got on with her morning routine, Tikki was a little more quiet than usual, but otherwise, it was just another morning.

 

Her eyes strayed to her computer, which had gone to sleep sometime in the middle of the night, and she paused. Marinette was tempted to check how the outfit was doing and had almost crossed the length of her room to see when the comment came flooding back to her mind.

 

_Oh._

 

Marinette spun around, and marched downstairs, ignoring her mother’s wishes to have a good day and started the short walk to school.

* * *

A new Adrien photoshoot had released that day, but Marinette could barely lift her head from her seat, much less take joy in it.

 

She was more subdued than usual, Marinette knew she was. Only answering when she had to, and thank the heavens there was no Akuma attack. Though she was suspicious enough since she was so down and out of it, she might not even notice one going on.

 

Long story short, she was a hollow shell of what she usually was.

 

And everyone around her noticed. They noticed how the ordinarily bubbly girl was silent, and out of her element. They saw how mopey she had seemed, not even squealing with Alya over the new photoshoot; even Adrien wondered what had the brunette so sad.

 

Marinette wanted almost to be left alone in peace, and so for lunch, she declined Alya’s invitation to sit with Nino and Adrien. She instead had lunch at the park, staring off into the distance more than actually eating. The rest of the day was quiet as well; it crawled by slowly though and Marinette found herself head down for the last class of the day, no longer willing to make unnecessarily contact with her classmates.

 

Once the bell rang, signifying the end of the day, Marinette found herself surrounded by Alya, Nino, and even Adrien. They looked at her in concern, but Marinette put on a fake smile and ran back home, she didn't deserve their pity, and honestly who was she to even feel like this.

 

It was pathetic really. 

* * *

 

Once Marinette was home, she was too discouraged to do more than change and hide under her covers. She could hear Tikki try to give encouragements but shuffled around and plugged her ears with her headphones. Marinette took a moment to reflect, and at that moment her trapdoor flew open.

 

She peeked through a hole in her comforter and saw Alya, Nino and Adrien enter her room, albeit a little cautiously. Alya caught her eye and set a box of what smelled like pastries onto her desk. Marinette’s loft was a mess, she never bothered to clean it after finishing the outfit, and didn’t feel like straightening her area.

 

Marinette sprung up, eyes wide, glancing at Adrien and then back at Alya. She still had a shit ton of Adrien pictures up in her room. She meant to take a weekend with Alya to removed them down after the whole Troublemaker fiasco, but it looks that wasn’t going to happen anytime soon.

 

❝Wakey Mari,❞ Nino climbed her ladder to her bed, and she gave a small hiss that rivaled Chat’s hiss.

 

❝Leave me alone to perish.❞ Marinette groaned, flipping her covers back onto her head.

 

❝No can do girl,❞ Alya lifted her covers long enough to tuck a new stuffed cat under her arm. Marinette watched as they reorganized her room back to its clean state, and even put her fabric scraps into the right bin.

 

❝Guys, you don’t have to do this.❞ Marinette tore off her covers and slipped down to the floor, where Adrien gave her a cookie from the pastry box.

 

❝No, but we want to.❞ Adrien smiled at her, and she couldn’t look him in the eyes. Her own eyes began to tear up, and she sniffled.

 

❝Marinette what’s wrong?❞

 

❝I shouldn’t even feel like this!❞ She cried, letting tears flow freely as if she had been trying all day not to cry which in a way she had.

 

❝I was fine earlier, I promise.❞ Marinette huffed, trying to catch her breath, and she noticed they had their undivided attention. That didn’t stop her though from continuing, instead, it gave her a small sliver of hope.

 

❝I’m just sad over some common thing, there are people so much worse off than me, and I’m just upset that I got seemingly a constructive criticism comment on my latest post last night.❞ At some point, Alya had shoved her into a hug, and Marinette cried harder. Her best friend whispered comfort in her ear, and after standing for too long, the four of them sat down right there. Marinette had calmed down by that time, but a few tears had slipped out here and there.

 

Alya offered her another cookie, the other one had crumbled sometime during her cry, and she took it and stared at it for a while.

 

❝You said you got a harsh comment on your blog?❞ Adrien asked, and all Marinette could do was nod. There was a bit of shuffling before Adrien had gone to her computer desk and pulled up the post in question.

 

❝You’re not going to find the comment; I deleted it at lunch.❞ Marinette huffed again, rubbing at her tear ducts and willed for the tears to stop. ❝I ended up removing it, against my better judgment because I didn’t want it to have a hold on me and it's petty, but it's gone.❞

 

❝That’s entirely fair for you Marinette,❞ Adrien closed out of the screen and settled back onto the floor. ❝It’s your blog, and ultimately it is your safe place and if something is toxic, then hey there's the delete option if you ever need it.❞

 

❝Babe if it's tearing you up this much, I doubt it was very constructive and more like they just wanted to upset you.❞ Alya rubbed her back again, and Marinette felt the cloud of sadness slowly leave her. She was grateful to have these guys in her life, and as the night went on, she slowly came back to herself. Making jokes with Nino, gossiping with Alya, and even groaning at the silly puns Adrien would tell to cheer her up. The four of them would stay up till midnight, making sure Marinette was happy and well reminded that they were there for her.

 

And she wouldn't have had it any other way.

**Author's Note:**

> Didn't mean for this to be as long either, but it was nice to let whatever was bothering me out.


End file.
